Bell's grandfather asked Judge Cordell Maddox Jr. if there was a way to appeal Maddox's sentence. The judge said it would be unusual but the family would likely have 30 days to file the request.

Maddox's sentence was based on a plea deal between Dawson's attorney, Andrew Potter, and solicitors.

Potter said that Dawson was worried about the risks inherent in a trial and was willing to agree to a charge lower than the initial charge of murder.

Prosecutors said they sided with Bell's family and wished that a longer sentence, up to 30 years, had been possible.

"Obviously the family is not happy with that," said Assistant Solicitor Lauren Hogan. "And I'd say they shouldn't be."

But she said that evidence would have given Dawson a good chance at prevailing during a trial.

She said that while initial witnesses reported seeing only Dawson with a gun, it appears that each man was shooting at the time.

No gun was found on or near Bell's body, but Potter suggested, based on a letter he said his office received, that a gun was removed before police arrived.

Gunshot residue was found on Bell's right hand, Potter said, which supports Dawson's account that the two were exchanging shots. The shooting happened near a house on Lindsay Street in Anderson in March 2010.

The gunshot residue and other evidence could support a claim of self-defense, Hogan said, which prompted the solicitor's office to make a deal.

"I don't think that's something we could overcome," she said.

Bell's family members cried out in joy at one moment during the hearing, when Dawson said that the shooting was over a feud between the two but was not gang related.

Members of the Anderson County Gang Task Force had investigated the case, along with city officers, and prosecutors referred to both Bell and Dawson as former gang members.

Bell had cocaine in his system when he was shot through the neck, prosecutors said.

Bell was shot in the back of the neck but Potter said that each man was running away from the other while shots were being fired.

The robbery that Dawson admitted to was at a Spinx gas station in Anderson in December 2009. Prosecutors said Dawson lifted his shirt to show what a clerk believed to be a gun, although he never pulled out the gun. Dawson was on video, was picked out of a lineup and was named by someone who participated in the robbery, prosecutors said.